Snowy Zoo Trip 2014

Mollie and I needed to go to our local zoo to sign her and Baylor up for some summer classes, but once we were finished with our official business we decided to take advantage of our errand and pay the actual zoo a visit.

One of the bald eagles was actually out of its nest, something I had never seen before in all my years of going to the zoo.  

There weren't any ducks in the duck pond area, which had been completely drained of water, but there were ducks swimming in the salmon pond.  Mollie was, of course, delighted.

The otters were out and enjoying the snow left on the ground, rolling around in it with vigor.

Then they saw some visitors up above and decided to check them out.

Both of the bears were sleeping during our visit, which seemed appropriate given the chilly weather.

The mountain lion, on the other hand, was up and about, prowling around his pen.

And ironically enough, the snow leopard, who I was sure would be awake and enjoying the cold, was sound asleep up on the rocks.

The chimpanzees were all inside; some were resting, some were eating, and some were just ... grooming.  The far one in this picture was picking stuff out of his ears and eating it, which Mollie found infinitely funny.

The tropics house was a busy place, and it was nice to see all the spider monkeys up close.

The komodo dragon was just chilling out, and Mollie found it fascinating that he had two balls in his enclosure to play with.

Quite a few of the exhibits were closed for the season, so our trip was much shorter than usual.  But it was nice to see some of the animals without all the crowds and without the sweltering heat of the summer.  Plus, as we were leaving, Mollie got the gnu drum all to herself!

And, unlike during summer visits, it wasn't too hot to touch!  Bonus!

We had a great little trip to the zoo, and it has definitely made me want to go back before the weather really heats up.